The Phuket Film Festival started on Saturday. Organizer Scott Rosenberg is hoping to create something similar to the success of the Bangkok International Film Festival. All great things have to start from somewhere. The problem with this film festival is that there isn’t anything about it that leaps out and demands attention.

The event schedule was release about a week ago and all the films are being shown at the newly-opened SF Cinema in Jungceylon. It’s great that Patong finally has a cinema; long overdue.

The list of films being shown includes most of the big Thai movies from the past year, including King Naresuan 1 and 2, Season Change and Ploy. There is also a screening of Surf’s Up. I like penguins so will probably go and watch this.

There will be a few lectures held until the festival reaches its climax on October 27 with the People’s Choice Awards.

I don’t want to knock the guys organizing the film festival, but I think this is something that will have to grow if it is to ever become a serious event. For a start, the website needs to be overhauled and redesigned. Also, I have never seen someone use a redirect to point to two completely different websites. Go to www.phuketfilmfestival.com and you get the film festival website, but go to phuketfilmfestival.com and you get redirected to the SF Cinema page. That’s ridiculous.

The opening gala at Jungceylon on Saturday didn’t draw a huge crowd, but it was well organized and the food and drinks were great. I didn’t recognize any of the celebrities but I’m told they were quite famous. The opening film was Dance Machine, which I didn't have time to see.

Martin Scorsese was supposed to be attending, but because the dates of the festival were changed he was unable to make it. Shame.

Techno' tags: Thailand, Phuket, Phuket Film Festival

We’ve been getting a lot of calls an emails recently from concerned locals and tourists wondering if Phuket is safe after the recent air-crash and the wave of attacks directed at foreigners. Is life on Phuket spiraling out of control? Of course not!

I think I gave an unrealistic image of Phuket when I wrote about foreigners being attacked in Phuket. Like any city in the world, Phuket is safe, but it has its own set of rules that you should obey. A lot of the problems people come across could have been avoided with a bit of though.

Don’t piss off tuk tuk drivers

This is fundamental to life in Phuket. Don’t haggle, don’t argue, don’t lose your temper and don’t refuse to pay an already-agreed fare. The tuk tuk drivers are known for being ruthless. We hear too many stories of foreigners being beaten up, but almost always, these attacks are the end product of some dispute. Just last week, a Dutchman was beaten up with planks of wood for, he said, parking in an area reserved for tuk tuks. Foreigners often cause problems by being stubborn.

Avoid riding a motorbike late at night

Unless you know the roads well, don’t ride a motorbike late at night down quiet stretches of road, especially if you’re on your own. Motorbikes are readily available in Phuket, but people often throw all common sense out the window when it comes to riding them. You’ve got more chance of being run off the road by an inexperienced farang rider than you have of being mugged by a biker gang.

Don’t mess with the locals

In places like Patong, many problems are caused by a lack of common sense. Try and avoid using jet skis for a start. It also pays to remember that you’re a long way from home. Situations can become volatile through stubbornness and unwillingness to back down. This is their territory, their rules. Don’t get drunk and act like a yob.

Flying is safe

A lot of people are still worried about flying to Phuket after flight OG269 crash-landed at Phuket International Airport. That was freak event that happens once in a lifetime. It could have happened in any city at any airport. It is safe to fly to Phuket.

Is it safe to travel by boat?

From time to time, we report on cases of boats filled with tourists sinking. It’s important to travel only with reputable boating services, particularly if you’re diving or snorkeling. Research the size of the boat you are going to be traveling on and how many people it will be carrying.

Keep your bags close

If you have to travel with a bag, it’s best to remove all valuables from it. Don’t leave a bag in the front basket of a motorbike while you’re traveling, and keep your bag close to you at all times. Thieves have been known to use knives to cut bag straps.

Don’t resist

If you find yourself in the sticky situation of being mugged or confronted, don’t put up a fight and don’t try and save the day by standing your ground. Acting like a tough guy will get you stabbed or shot. Muggers just want money and they aren’t out to kill anybody, but people make bad situations worse by being difficult. Yes, it sucks if you’re getting robbed of a bunch of pocket change, but it sucks a lot more if you end up dead.

Come to Phuket

You’ve got more chance of being beaten up by a group of drunken foreigners from your own country than you have of being set upon by an angry mob of locals. Phuket is safe if you apply a bit of common sense to how you get around and how you interact with the locals.

Techno' tags: Thailand, Phuket

The media coverage of the hunt for Christopher Paul Neil reminds me of the John Mark Karr freak show we were forced to endure, but the difference is, the evidence behind the case against Neil is stronger than a few deluded statements.

Neil is allegedly seen on the Internet in over 200 photos abusing young boys in Southeast Asia. Incredible computer technology in Germany was able to unravel a doctored image posted on the Internet. Neil was then identified and located in South Korea, where he was working as a language teacher.

On October 11, Neil flew from Seoul to Bangkok, and authorities believe he is still in Thailand. Reports have been speculating that Neil could be in either Pattaya or Phuket as those areas are the most heavily populated by tourists.

Nobody has spotted him in Thailand since he arrived in Bangkok. Fox News is all over this, so you can be sure that the media circus will continue for weeks, and the inevitable questions about language teachers will be raised and someone will come out and say that Thailand is used as a safehouse by pedophiles.

Even the guy’s MySpace profile has been made public. If he has any sense he won’t be in either Phuket or Pattaya. If he is down here though, it’ll make a killer front page.

Techno' tags: Thailand, Phuket, Christopher Neil

I guess a life of leisure must be quite boring. Poor old Thaksin is resorting to making videos on the Internet to reach out to his supporters. The videos will, apparently, contain mostly “business advice”, according to Noppadon.

“For example, the video may show Thaksin in a department store shopping for brand-name goods. He will explain to businessmen here how they can add value to their products,” said Noppadon in The Nation.

Sounds like one to look out for: business advice from a corrupt billionaire.

Techno' tags: Thailand, Thaksin

The recent spate of attacks on foreigners in Phuket has a lot of people on the island worried. These attacks occur late at night on quiet stretches of road. Thai youths are targeting foreigners driving motorbikes.

Thais attacking Thais is nothing new, but so many muggings of foreigners is cause for concern. It’s unsafe to ride alone at night, particularly if you don’t know the roads well.

Norwegian Simen Knudsen was robbed and stabbed to death recently on a quiet stretch of road near Kata viewpoint. The three boys arrested for the killing were released shortly after, undermining a high-profile police investigation.

Just this week, an Australian woman riding with her friend was pushed off her motorbike and robbed at gunpoint in the same area. Cases like this are happening more frequently.

Every time, after a week of the police being certain of their investigations bearing fruit, nothing happens and the attacks are quietly forgotten.

This might all be about to change after the Knudsen murder. The Norwegian press has been all over this story and Norwegians are choosing to avoid Phuket and Thailand altogether. The three prime suspects being released was the real clincher here.

The message being sent out to would-be attackers is that the police often struggle to nail criminals. The relative ease with which guns are available fuels this trend.

I’m not trying to scaremonger here, and I realize that my last two posts have been negative, but when you can’t rely on public transport in Phuket and you risk being attacked if you use a motorbike at night, I wonder why this issue cannot be dealt with effectively.

Techno' tags: Thailand, Phuket